Jewelry clip



Dec. 30,v 1947. M, cHEm'ww 2,433,731

JEWELRY CLIP Filed Oct. 1 1946 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 30, 1947 UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE JEWELRY CLIP Michael Chernow, New York, N. Y.Application October 16, 1946, Serial No. 703,548

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to jewelry clips I .and more particularlyto earrings of the hinged clip type.

The invention is an improvement upon that of my prior Patent No.2,351,925 of June 20, 1944, which also relates to earrings of the hingedclip type.

Among the objects of this invention are to provide a jewelry clip andmore particularly an earring clip which is simple to construct and has aminimum number of inexpensive parts and which is devoid of springs,ratchet or screw locking adjustments that are subject to wear, jammingor derangement in use, which frequently result on the one hand indiscomfort to the wearer due to pinching the ear lobe, or on the otherin looseness and loss of the clip, the clip of the present inventionafiording simple means for tightening the hinge portion in the event oflooseness thereof and inherently affording a secure hold withoutpinching the ear lobe, regardless of its thinness or thickness.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one of various possibleembodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. l is a side elevation of the earring clip in use,

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the earring with the clip arm in clampedposition,

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the earring with the clip arm in open position,and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 44 of Fig. 1.

Referring noW to the drawings, there is illustratively shown an earringclip which comprises the ornamental face member or plate ID to the rearof which is soldered, brazed, welded or other-v wise attached the baseof a U-shaped bracket II, the outer parts of which constitute upstandingjaws I2.

clip arm or one blanked out of sheet metal stock of uniform thickness.This arm desirably includes an eye I5 interposed between the jaws of thebracket. A rivet IB', placed transversely through the bracket jaws andthe interposed eye I5, securely clamps the latter in place between saidjaws. Desirably the eye has a, bore slightly larger than the shank ofthe rivet, the latter'being friotionally held as an axle in the twobracket jaws I2.

In the earring embodiment particularly, the width of the clip arm I4extends generally parallel to the length of the rivet and the plane ofthe eye is at right angles to said arm, th metal Between the jaws I2 ofthe bracket is .7 hinged a clip arm I4, desirably a stamped metal of thearm being twisted for that purpose at I I at a point near, but beyondthe jaws I2 of the bracket, affording a shank portion I8 between the eyeI5 and the twist H. The clip arm preferably flares outward toward itsfree end, which presents a generally convex holding cup conformation I9of substantial width in the neighborhood of 1% inch. The convex holdingcup end I9 desirably has tranverse ribs 20 across the face thereofextending parallel to the rivet to more securely hold the earring clipon an car when the ear lobe is squeezed between holding cup I9 and therear of plate Ill.

The construction thus far described is not per se claimed herein as itis the subject of my prior patent above identified.

According to the present invention, each of the jaws l2 of said brackethas an asymetrical resilient tongue portion I3 unitary therewith. Thetongues I3 are transversely aligned and substantially in the planes andat right angles to the lengths of the respective bracket arms, thelengths of said tongues extending in the general direction of the earlobe engaging area of the plate Ill. The ends of said tongue portionsturn inwardly but do not touch.

In the assembled unit, when the clip arm is in the opened position, asshown in Fig. 3, it does not extend between the ends of the tongues I3.When the clip arm is pivoted to the position of use, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, the shank portion I8 is forced between the converging ends ofsaid tongues and wedged therebetween.

The shank portion I8 of the clip arm is slightly longer than the tonguesI3, so that when the clip arm is pivoted from the open to the closedposition of use, the converging tongues will only engage the shank ofthe clip arm and not the twisted portion thereof. Unnecessary spreadingof the tongues is thus avoided and smooth pivotingof the clip arm-fromopen to closed position occurs with firm frictional hold of the clip armby the tongues when the clip arm is in use, thereby keeping the arm fromeasy displacement out of any position in which it is set when closed.When the clip arm is open, no pressure is exerted by thetongues againstthe shank of the clip arm, thereby releasing the strain on the tonguesso that they will, maintain their resiliency for a long time when theearring clip is not in use. I The inner sides I3 of the tongues arerounded and the tongues are so placed on the periphery of jaw I2 thatthe loweredge 2| of the. lobe of the car may comfortably fit between therear 3 of plate In and th rounded portion [3' of tongue IS withoutpinching or cutting.

As the width of the shank portion N3 of the clip arm I4 is greater thanthe width of the clamping ends of the tongue, the clip arm, when in theclosed position, will be firmly held by said tongues regardless of thethickness of the ear lobe.

The clip arm ,ldis of suchlength, asshown in Fig. 1, that when the clipis applied to the ear with the bracket H against the lower edge 2| ofthe lobe, the convex gripping cup IQ of the arm will rest in theconcavity 22 of said lobe, the hu-' man ear lobe presenting considerablymorefflesh.

about its entire rim 23 than it doesiinitsmide portion 22.

Thus in use the clip can Ibeinstantiy applied to the ear, the grippingcup 19 becoming registered with the concavity 22 in the ear lobe and thetongue portions l3 maintaining the clip in any position of pivotedadjustment on an ear. The relatively large :suriace 'Ofthehbldingbub on"the clip arm and the transVerse-ribs zt'therecf enhance the frictionalhold and also prevent angular displacement ofthe' earrin'girom its ini-"tial'set position.

In my rior patent heretofore referred to, the eye of the cliparm i'ssplit andthe ends'thereof are displaced laterally in the manner of alock washer. .In the s.rassembled=unit,ithe -pressure exerted by theri've't brings thetend's' o'f' the eye in line, sonthattin its tendencytorspread out, it exerts a frictional holduagain'st't he ja'ws'of thebracket. It has been :found that after considerable .use, :the displacedends of the: eye tend to remain aligned, therebyFiooseriing-the hingeportion of theearring"and-allowing displacement or 'the :clip arm. :Inorder to tighten the hinge, .ithad to be disassembled,=:the.-ends of the"split. eye had to :be distalacedandthe hinge reassembled.

This-operation requiredw'considerable eiiort and necessitated return ofthe earring to the factory.

According to the,present invention, if the; hinge does loosen due toaspread-ingof the lip portion ofthe jaws, it is :mere1y-necessary to movethe clip arm to the openrpositionr out-of. engagementby the.tong-ues,.and-to squeeze the ends of the tongue portions 13. of thejaws together, a. relatively simple operation that canbeperformed.bytheiuser-with anordinarypair. of pliers.

-Asmany changes could be madein the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of .thisiinven'tion could bemade without departing'from the scope of the claims, itis intended thatall .m'att'er contained in the above description or 'shown'in'theaccompanying drawings shall'be interpreted as illustrative and not in a"limiting sense.

Having thus described "my in'vention, what 'I claimas new and desire tosecur by LettersP'atent of the United States is.

*1. A jewelry'clip compri'sin a'face plate, "a bracket rigidly afiixedto the "back thereof and having apair of "jaws, 'each of said jawshaving a rivettransverselylthrough saidjaws and said.

interposedeye'to clamp said eye in place between said jaws, saidclip armhaving a shank portion between and frictionally engaged'bysaid tongueswhen the clip is in use.

4 2. A jewelry clip comprising a face member, a bracket having a baserigidly affixed to the back thereof and having a pair of jaws, each ofsaid jaws having a resilient tongue portion unitary 5 therewith, saidtongue portions being in registry and converging at the ends thereof, ametal clip arm having an eye unitary therewith at right angles to thegeneral plane thereof and inter- ,posed betweenrsaid jaws, meansfrictionally to lo clamp said eye'between said jaws, said meanscomprising a rivet transversely through said jaws .and said interposedeye, said clip arm having a shank portion between and engaged by saidiiiton-gues when the clip arm is closed, said rivet being frictionallyheld as an axle in said bracket "and saideye having clearance withrespect to said 'irive't.

3. Anarticle of clip jewelry comprising a face member, a U-shapedbracket secured to the rear thereof and having a pair of jaws extendingtherefrom,-'each 'of'said jaws ha'v ing' a tongueportion unitartherewith at right angles :to the length of said bracket, said tongueportions being aligned and converging toward each nth-er at the endsthereof, a clip arm'having an reye unitar therewith hinged atone-en'dtbetween 's'aid jaws and twisted at right angles beyond but nearsaid eye,

a shank portion fo'rmed'by said twist between said eyeand -said twistedportion, a rivet trans- 3'0 versely through said jaws and said eyefrictionally to clamp 'saideye between said jaws, said converging tongueportions "of said jaws ccacting with the shank "portion of said clip armwhen the :clip is in'use, therebyirict-ionallyf holding said 35 clip armin'position.

:4. An'eari'ing clip 'compri'sing a faceiplate, a bracket "rigidlyafiixed tothe back thereof and having "a pair of .ja'ws, e'ach of'saidjaws having an "asymmetricaltongue portion extending verti- 40 'ca'llyoutward therefrom, said tongue Iportio'ns being aligned and convergingtowardeach :other at the endsthereof,said tongue portions occupying a.small "section of the periphery of said jaws and being spaced from therear 'of'sai'd 'face plate,

thereby to allow easy insertionof the lobe oi'an ear between said f'aceplate and said tongues, a metal clip arm having an eye unitary therewithat right angles'to t'he general plane thereof and interposed betweensaid jaws, a rivet'transverse- '60 1y through said :jaws'andsaid'interposed eye to clamp said eye in place between said jaws, saidclip armhaving a shank portion between'and frictionally engaged by saidtongue w-henthe clip is in use.

5. As an article of manufacture, a jewelry clip comprising a U-shapedbracket having a pair of jaws extending therefro'myeach of said jaws having an asymmetrical tongue portion unitary therewith extendingverticallyoutward therefrom at '5 right angles to the lengthof said bracket, saidtongue portions beingaligned and converging toward each other at theends thereof, a clip arm having an eye unitary therewith hinged atoneend between said jaws and a'shank portion near '65 said eye, arivettransverselyjthrough said jaws and said eye frictionally to clamp saideye between said jaws, said converging tongueportions ofsaid jawscoacting with the shank porti'oncf said-clip arm when the clip is inuse, thereby frictionallyholding said clip-arm in position.

\ -MIGHAEL CHERNOW.

